Brookfield moves HQ to New York in corporate restructuring aimed at boosting investor base

financialpost.com:

Toronto-based investment management company Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. has moved its head office to New York in a bid to broaden its investor base to include passive institutional investors that collectively manage trillions of dollars.

The move was announced as part of a wider corporate restructuring, which is to be voted on at a special meeting of Brookfield Asset Management shareholders on Dec. 20. If approved, BAM will own 100 per cent of the asset management business, with Brookfield Corp.’s current 73 per cent interest held directly by owning approximately the same percentage of the publicly traded shares of BAM.

The companies said the plan would not affect the operations or strategic plans of either and would have no effect on the tax treatment of their dividends. 

BAM invests globally through a number of funds and specializes in alternative assets such as infrastructure, real estate, energy and credit. It has approximately $1 trillion of assets under management.

Brookfield Corp. said the new arrangement, to be put in place early next year if approved, would simplify the corporate structure of the asset management business, “making it easier for investors to understand and value the security.”

Another reason for the manoeuvre is “broader index inclusion,” which would increase ownership of the class A shares by passive institutional investors.

“Further, inclusion in the most widely followed indexes is expected to increase BAM’s visibility among a much broader universe of active public investors who benchmark against these indexes,” the company said in a statement.

It also said BAM’s market capitalization would reflect the total value of the asset management business following the restructuring. 

“Today, that